First passengers arrive at Frankfurt's new Terminal 3

The first passengers on a scheduled flight arrived at Frankfurt Airport's new Terminal 3 on Thursday, one day after the building was officially opened.

A China Southern Airlines jet from Shenyang was the first aircraft to arrive at the new terminal early in the morning, operator Fraport confirmed.

The Chinese carrier is among 57 airlines due to move to Terminal 3 at Germany's largest airport in the coming months. They have so far operated from Terminal 2, which is set to close for refurbishment.

The new terminal was inaugurated on Wednesday at a ceremony, more than 10 years after construction began.

Completion of Terminal 3 was initially planned for 2022 but was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Fraport has invested around €4 billion ($4.7 billion) in the terminal, well beyond the original estimate of between €2.5 billion and €3 billion.

In its first phase, Terminal 3 can handle around 19 million passengers a year and can be expanded to 25 million, roughly matching the capacity of Germany's fourth-largest airport in Düsseldorf.

In 2025, around 63 million passengers were registered at Frankfurt Airport in around 460,000 departures and landings.